Pat, at Doggiewoggie.com, found an article on Kentucky.com (reprint from Newsday) about teaching your dog or cat to do tricks.

If you’ve read up on dog training, you’ve probably heard the new adage “a tired dog is a good dog.” And it’s certainly true that if you find a way to burn off some of your dog’s energy, he’s less likely to get into serious mischief. (Especially with a puppy. Phew!)

But some trainers today argue that how you tire out a dog is also important. Prolonged, hard physical stimulation — such as a frenetic afternoon in a dog park — may actually raise levels of a dog’s stress hormones, with potentially negative consequences for his behavior and ability to learn (not to mention his health).

Instead, you should find activities that combine more gentle physical activity with engaging mental work — like teaching your dog to do tricks.

Teaching your dog tricks may have other benefits as well, such as helping her learn how to learn, and to look to you for reinforcement.

There are a number of books on teaching tricks. Although it’s a general dog training book, Outwitting Dogs, the book I co-wrote, has a section on tricks. Many trainers offer tricks classes. Here in Rochester, for instance, Cindy Harrison offers a great tricks class.

Which brings me to the last point about working on tricks. It’s fun! We can sometimes get overly serious with dog training, but with tricks, it’s easy to just chill out and enjoy our dogs. Hey, who knows, maybe we even become better trainers in the process ;-)

UPDATE: please also take a peek at my new book, 101 Dog Training Tips.